Pumpkin Pie Bars

It’s that time of year! Pumpkin Pie Time 🙂 Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I have the perfect recipe for you! Pumpkin Pie bars taste like pumpkin pie, but better. They are very moist, just like pie, but the crust on these is sooo good! Could you imagine the holidays without a pumpkin dessert?!

If you like pumpkin, these are a must! I have made these for years and they are always a crowd pleaser.

I got this recipe off the tasty kitchen back in 2011. I have made it every year since! Hats off to the person who came up with this delicious dessert.

This recipe can be soy free, dairy free and gluten free! It’s all in the cake mix! Choose a soy free mix or get the gluten free yellow cake mix! You can also substitute the milk and butter for non dairy options!

Ingredients

  • FOR THE CRUST:
  • 1 box Yellow Cake Mix, 18 Ounce Box, Reserve 1 Cup
  • ½ cups Melted Butter
  • 1 whole Egg, Beaten
  • FOR THE MIDDLE LAYER:
  • 2 whole Eggs
  • ⅔ cups Evaporated Milk
  • ¼ cups White Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 15 ounces, weight Canned Pumpkin
  • ½ cups Brown Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • FOR THE TOPPING:
  • 1 cup Reserved Cake Mix
  • ½ teaspoons Cinnamon
  • ½ cups White Sugar
  • ½ cups Melted Butter

Instructions

  • Mix together the first 3 ingredients (make sure to reserve 1 cup of the cake mix and set that aside) and press into a 9×13 ungreased pan.
  • Combine the eggs, evaporated milk, sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and vanilla and pour over the crust.
  • Lastly, mix together the topping ingredients: reserved cake mix, cinnamon, white sugar, and melted butter. Spoon over pumpkin filling.
  • Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes (it will be a bit soft still).
  • Serve with whipped topping, warm. OR even better, serve it the next day, cold!
I definitely prefer these cold! They are so delicious and make me so happy!

I hope you enjoy these Pumpkin Pie Bars as much as I do! Follow me on Pinterest or right here on my blog for more recipe ideas!

Mickey Mouse Beignets

I Love Beignets!!! Fried dough, with powdered sugar…how can you go wrong?!?! Beignets are great for breakfast, brunch, snack, dessert, or anytime really!! This beignet recipe is easy to make, and one you will want to keep!

When we go to Disney World these beignets are a must, among a few other treats that I cannot resist. You can only get the beignets at a few places, and Disney’s Port Orleans French Quarter in Walt Disney World is where I had my first taste!!!

Disney’s Recipe

You may be wondering, where did you get that recipe?? There is a Disney Park’s Blog and they have been releasing favorite recipes! When I saw this one back in April, I knew I had to try them!!

I am in no way trying to take credit for this awesome recipe, I just want to share the wealth, as well as my own pictures of how awesome they turned out! We just happened to have a Mickey Mouse Cookie cutter (we have hundreds of cookie cutters), but you can use whatever shape!!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 egg
  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup boiling water
  • Vegetable or Canola oil for frying
  • Powdered sugar for topping!

Directions:

  1. Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve. Let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Combine sugar, shortening, salt, heavy cream, egg, flour and boiling water in a large bowl; stir in yeast mixture. With the dough hook attachment of an electric mixer on medium speed, mix the dough just until combined and smooth. Let dough rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Roll to 1/4-inch thickness and cut individual beignets with a Mickey Mouse-shaped cutter or cut into 2 1/2 to 3-inch squares. Cover with a towel and let dough rise until doubled in size in a warm, draft-free area, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. 
  1. Using caution, heat 3 inches of vegetable oil to 350°F in a deep, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Fry beignets until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes, turning as soon as they brown on one side. Remove with tongs and place on paper towels to drain.  Dust warm beignets with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

Delicious!!

I seriously can’t believe I had never made beignets before. They were easy to make and so delicious! These are going to be a must for special occasions! I will admit, it’s not the same as actually eating them at Disney World, but it will do until I can get back there again!!

Disney Park’s Blog

Be sure to check out the Disney Park’s Blog too! This is where I got this awesome recipe.

Follow me on Pinterest for more ideas!!

Harry Potter Birthday Cake

How fun is a Harry Potter Birthday Cake?!! My son is turning eight and he wanted a Harry Potter Birthday Cake! We love Harry Potter we have just finished watching all of the movies with the kids. We even have a dog named Gryffindor!

Besides actually frosting the cake with white, piping the details was easy. For some reason I find it more challenging to get a smooth frosted cake, with out any hiccups. I always find that the frosting pulls up and starts to rip the cake…just being honest here. We definitely had to do some frosting “surgery” on one of the corners.

I like to make things as easy as I can when making cakes. So, yes I used cake from a box… I mixed together Rainbow chip and Cherry Chip. Yes it tasted good, in fact, it tasted really good! I had some dad’s at the party ask me what flavor cake it was, because it was that good!

What Size Cake?

I opted to make a little bit of a smaller cake than I normally do; 15×21. Two boxes of cake mix did the trick and I baked it for about 30 minutes. Definitely check it when the timer goes off because every oven bakes differently.

Colors I Used For The Details

For the details, I used Wilton Buttercup Yellow and Burgundy for the colors. For the black, I bought pre-mixed black in a tube and put it into a piping bag. It’s difficult to get a good black frosting! I had to put a lot of burgundy food coloring in to make it not look like a pinky rose. For the lettering, I Googled “Harry Potter Font” to get the shape of the letters as accurate as I could! See below for my video on how I decorated it!

I hope you enjoy this!! Follow me on Fun and Frosted for more Fun!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes are easy and a great alternative to a regular cupcake! Perfect for parties big or small.

You do not need a lot of ingredients, which is nice, because these use a box of cake mix in the batter! They are part cookie and part cupcake!

The best thing about Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes is that you can top them however you want. There are so many variations.

Different Mix-In’s

  • M&M’s
  • Chocolate Chips
  • Butterscotch Chips
  • White Chocolate Chips
  • Marshmallows
  • Sprinkles

Different Toppings

  • Ice Cream
  • Frosting
  • Whipped Cream
  • Chocolate Sauce
  • Strawberry Sauce
  • Caramel Sauce
  • Sprinkles
  • Cherry on top!

Those are just a few ideas, get creative!

Here is what you need for the recipe:

  • 1 Box of yellow cake mix
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream or milk
  • 1/4 cup of canola oil
  • 1 cup chocolate chips (or other mix-in’s you want)

Instructions:

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees F
  • Mix together the cake mix, egg, oil, and cream in a bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer
  • Add in the chocolate chips, stir until well combined
  • Prepare muffin tins with 24 muffin papers
  • Evenly distribute the batter among the 24 cupcake papers
  • Bake 18 minutes
  • Let cool
  • Remove the cupcake paper
  • Serve with desired toppings!

These were so so so delicious! I served them for my son’s birthday and the adults and the kids all loved them! It’s a good alternative to a normal cupcake! It was also very last minute, and they were so quick and easy to make. I had all of the ingredients in my pantry, so it was a win-win!

I hope you enjoy these Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes!

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Easy Cherry Pie Bars

Do you ever find yourself needing a quick and easy last minute dessert for a party? These Cherry Pie Bars are the answer. They are easy to make, easy to eat and are so yummy. They are great for ANY occasion. Once I start eating these I honestly have a hard time stopping!!

This is one of those desserts, that if you have these leftover in your refrigerator you keep going in for just one more bite…

Honestly I cannot tell you enough how EASY these are to make. I like a quick and easy dessert, and when I am in a pinch I don’t want to have to give it much thought. This recipe would be fantastic swapping out the Cherry filling with strawberry, blueberry, peach or even lemon filling! I am going to try that next time I go to make this.

I served these Easy Cherry Pie Bars up at our Christmas Party with my friends. They were very festive and were perfect for the holidays! They even went well with my Grapefruit Paloma aka Margarita…

This recipe is a great go-to for anyone who has food allergies to peanuts, tree-nuts and soy. I happen to have all three. This recipe can be found in many variations, but mostly people use almond extract, which is an absolute no for me! I just supplemented with more vanilla!!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1-2 cans cherry pie filling 21 oz. Depending on how much cherry you like!

Glaze Ingredients

  • 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
  • 3-4 tbsp milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  • In your stand mixer cream together butter and sugar
  • Add in eggs and vanilla
  • In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients
  • Add the dry ingredients into the mixture
  • Press the majority of the dough into a greased 9×13 baking dish. You will need about 1 cup of reserve for the top. You can use spray or use this recipe for Cake Pan Release. It’s amazing and soy free! Nothing sticks with this!
  • Spread on the cherry pie filling
  • Take the rest of the dough and drop spoonfuls on the top
  • Bake for 30 minutes. Should be a golden brown on top
  • Cool completely
  • Mix together the glaze ingredients and drizzle on top
  • Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve
  • Warm them up and serve with ice cream, or just eat them by themselves!

Like I said before, you can try different pie fillings to change up this recipe!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and come back for more!!

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